Down
by Moonfawn
Summary: Her faith would never falter. To the very end. He made sure of that.


!DISCLAIMER: I do not own Silent Hill and I am not affiliated with its IP holders in any way. The following fiction is only for enjoyment!

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What luck Dahlia Gillespie had, to have a daughter who would become the Mother of God. Sadly, even though Leonard Wolf's daughter Claudia was friends with Alessa, that luck did not rub off on them. It was just as well in the end, however. The ritual failed to bring Her and Her Paradise to Earth, foiled by not one but two men from outside the Order. This would not do. But Dahlia and Alessa both died in the madness that the second one caused trying to save the Mother. Even Doctor Kaufmann perished as well. No one left to punish.

Leonard had to ensure that his daughter would follow the word of the Order. Their ultimate goal was held over everything and anything else. He had to show her why God had to be brought back to remake the world in Her image after Her tragic death. He had to show her, firsthand, why Man is inferior in every way.

Except, of course, when he serves Her.

This was simple. The same was done to him, raised within the Order. If he hesitated at all when admonishing and punishing her, he was unaware of doing so. He would relent, only to strike at her again, to teach her the cost of faltering in your faith.

She would never falter. To the very end.

She was sad when Alessa died. But Leonard tried to instill in her that the part of Alessa that died wasn't important, it was God inside of her that was snatched away from them that was. He was uncertain if she fully understood, even after a few punishments. He then broke away from that path, for teaching her other things was more important.

Leonard never realized that he was mainly castigating her for his inadequacies. He never once considered doing to her what Dahlia did to Alessa, creating a constant state of unease to plant a seed of resentment that would bloom into the one, true, God. It wouldn't work because Claudia lacked the Gift that Alessa was born with.

Luck.

He resented himself for that, and he resented her for stealing his woman away from him at birth. Now Edith, that was a true woman of the Order. And the way the child looked-an albino's pallor and hair, and no eyebrows. Was she even his? If she wasn't, and Edith were still alive, Leonard would have dealt with her accordingly. He was surprised that Dahlia wasn't insulted when he let Claudia play with Alessa.

More gods were mocking Claudia than he could have ever expected.

Years passed after God died again. The Order still failed to produce another girl with the gift, though not for lack of trying. Some hoped that one of the girls sent to the Wish House would carry the gift, but that was improbable at best. They would only be put to use filling the ranks of Order priestesses-little better than cattle compared to the Mother.

Somehow, Claudia didn't grow up to be a total embarassment. She preached well the glories of God.

Perhaps one day, Claudia would see to it that God could be reborn. Perhaps his failure would not be hers.

But Claudia was more interested in studying the gospels than men. The only man that he saw her associate with was Vincent, that wealthy young subcontractor of their church in Silent Hill. He was born outside of the holiest of Orders, but his passion for God was lacking even in some of the elders.

One day, Leonard went to talk to Claudia, but couldn't find her. Vincent told him that she went to Brookhaven Hospital in the city. Why there? That place is a wasteland.

He didn't care to remember that that was where they lost Edith.

Inside the hospital's lobby was a note from Claudia. It said that she was waiting for him in the basement.

Getting there was no trifle. The place was infested with disturbing monsters and nefarious traps. One of the monsters reminded him of a puppy that he gave to Claudia years ago, when she was a child. Disobedient little thing. Just like her.

He was winded when he reached the partially flooded basement. Claudia stood across the room from him. Her hands were behind her back.

"Claudia, what is the meaning of this?" he asked.

She started to walk towards him. "Do you remember what today is?"

"August twenty-second. What of it?"

"The day Alessa was born."

Leonard looked cross at her. "Why are you doing this? I was almost killed getting here, you know."

"'Almost'?" Suddenly, Claudia stabbed him in the chest with a ceremonial knife. It stayed there for a few seconds before she twisted it and pulled it out of him. He crumpled to the floor. Some dirty, rusted water splashed into his mouth, open from shock.

Claudia stepped over her father and left the room.

For her, this was a trial run of sorts for what she would need to do to bring God back. It would be treacherous, cowardly, but necessary. It was the only way for Man to be redeemed.

For him, her attack meant that Her latent energies would work over him, remaking him to serve Her. He felt the dull pain of severed muscle tingle away as new burning pains poured over him.

It also meant that the student surpassed the master. He was proud.

But he would save love for when they were reunited in Paradise.

-Of all these pieces of broken dreams

There's one that scares and confuses me

If what you say is true

You should be someone I always knew

Life is cold here

Empty hallowed ground

Here in sin

Hell frozen rain falls down-

Commentary: This was a very interesting story for me to do, though not for lack of trying. Writing from the perspective of someone from the Order was intriguing and not very difficult. Should I be worried? I was kind of stuck for the ending, even though I knew what I wanted. I considered working the Seal of Metatron into the story, but since it was useless in SH3, it was useless to my fanfic. This is my favorite fanfic of mine so far.


End file.
